UConn adds Greenwich All-State offensive lineman Jake Kieran

The list of UConn football homegrown recruits continues to grow, as New Haven Register First Team All-State selection and Class LL state champion Jake Kiernan announced his commitment on Monday.

Kiernan was offered a preferred walk-on roster spot in January, and will join fellow first team selections John Neider ( Jonathan Law) and Danny Shaban (Joel Barlow), as well as third team selections Howard Simpson (Bloomfield) and Mark Sokk (Newtown) and 2021 First Team-All State selection Teddy Williams (Salisbury and Cromwell/ Portland).

“I am incredibly proud of Jake and all of his accomplishments as a twotime All-Stater,” Greenwich football coach Anthony Morello said. “I couldn’t be happier for him. He was a great captain for us, a tremendous leader. I know he had aspirations of playing Division I football and he had some iron in the kettle, but UConn was always a dream with him. It seems like a really great fit, especially with what UConn is doing right now.”

The highlight of Kiernan’s football career was his last game, as Greenwich defeated Fairfield Prep 37-17 at Rentschlear Field for the Class LL championship.

“It has been kind of the perfect ending to a high school career,” Kiernan said. “I can’t express enough how happy I was to be given the opportunity to be captain of a team like we had this year. To be able to have such an accomplishment with the best friends I will have for the rest of my life, it just doesn’t feel real.”

Now, he will call the field where he celebrated

All-State football player Jake Kiernan of Greenwich photographed on Dec. 19.

with his best friends his home.

“To see coach (Jim) Mora in his first year as head coach take the team from one win to a bowl game is incredible,” Kiernan said. “To be able to win a state championship on what is now my home field is something that I don’t think too many people get to do.”

Kiernan was one of two offensive lineman selected to the CHSCA Top 26 AllState team, having helped pave the way for Greenwich’s 2,000-plus yards rushing this past fall.

Last year UConn’s runheavy offense was highlighted by Bristol Central native Victor Rosa and parallels the run-heavy nature of the GameTimeCT No. 1 ranked team’s offense.

“I think Jake is going to fit in great,” Morello said. “He has size, he has tremendous ability, he is a passionate player and he is a great leader. He understands he is going into a

program with high expectations, same as the one he is leaving. He knows that there are guys that are going to be ahead of him on the depth chart, and he is going to have to earn his spot. It is going to be a great challenge for him, and if he performs the way we expect, hopefully he can earn a scholarship down the road and earn a spot up front.”

As a defensive player, Kiernan also made 38 tackles on the season, 23 of which were solo.

Kiernan, like many other high school seniors, endured a slower recruiting path than expected due to the national uptick in use of the transfer portal. He received a few offers, and ultimately chose UConn over a potential post-graduate year.

Prior to being offered the UConn preferred walk-on spot, he was weighing his options between going to prep school and offers from Fordham, Central Connecticut,

Sacred Heart and Delaware on the table.

When UConn called, it became the clear frontrunner. The decision made easier by the in-state nature of the program, and a couple of months later he made his commitment.

“Even when I went up there on a visit I saw guys from Norwalk to Brunswick,” Kiernan said. “They all knew who I was, and I knew who they were. They were saying ‘What’s up?’ to me and it really felt like a place where I would be welcome.”

Mora has seemingly prioritized keeping the state’s top talent at home with his ’s first autonomous recruiting class, and has recently named former Greenwich coach John Marinelli as the instate recruiting coordinator.

“Coach Marinelli has done a great job of recruiting Connecticut, and I am really excited for him to be taking on the role of recruiting coordinator in Connecticut,” Morello said. “I can’t think of anyone more fit for that job, he has so many ties to high school football in Connecticut. He came to town in early January and spoke with Jake. They watched his tape and liked it, and within a month he took the roster spot offer.”

Coaches, including Morello, are excited about the new development.

“Jake is the first player that I have coached to attend UConn,” Morello said. “I am really excited for the relationship with UConn and high schools in Connecticut. I think we have incredibly underrated football players in Connecticut.”

“I am really just going in there ready to work,” Kiernan said.